Battles, Blood andPaperwork?
by Silvermistwolf
Summary: This is my first shot at a semifunny, semiromance story.  Pairings: MatsumotoXHitsugaya.  Hitsugaya is stabbed by Matsumoto when a hollow takes over her mind.  Matsumoto is sad.  What happens when he wakes up?


The hollow had taken control of Matsumoto's mind and she was now his puppet, weilding a sword and facing her captian, Hitsugaya. Both had swords drawn and were standing in a battle stance.

"Snap out of it already!" Hitsugaya shouted, dodging a blow as Matsumoto raced forward.

No response. Hitsugaya hadn't really expected one but you could always hope right?

The white-haired captain countered another blow with his sword, driven back a bit by the force of her blow. _There has to be something_ Hitsugaya thought frantically as he leapt out of range of Matsumoto's blows. The strawberry blonde raced at him again. An idea sprang into Hitsugaya's head as he watched her come toward him. It was a blow he could avoid or block but instead, his sword slid from his grasp, clattering as it hit the ground.

Matsumoto's PV:

Matsumoto felt dull and her mind was fuzzy. She could feel her body moving but the sensations were distant and faint. The lutenint felt like she was falling into a deep slumber.

_Something isn't right_ Matsumoto thought dully. She'd been patrolling with Hitsugaya and then...nothing. Suddenly a voice broke through the dense fog but it was dull and faint, _"Snap out of it already!"_ The voice sounded like one she'd heard for over a hundred years, the voice of her too-young captain Hitsugaya.

The faint feeling of motion seemed to get just a bit stronger, like she was moving faster. Matsumoto heard the faint hint of fear in her captain's voice. Even deep in this thick fog she could hear the difference from the always-calm voice she'd heard for many, many years. That alone was enough to make her start fighting back, trying to find her captian.

"_Captain!"_ Matsumoto yelled mentally. _"Where are you? Hitsugaya! What's wrong? What is this?"_

Suddenly, the fog lifted. Matsumoto felt herself falling and the ground loomed up to meet her before she could stop her fall. The blonde hit something, but it wasn't just the ground. Confused and dazed, Matsumoto sat up, pushing herself up with one hand. Dark blue eyes widdened.

She hadn't landed just on the ground. No. She'd landed on Hitsugaya. His icy-green eyes were clenched shut and his jaw was set. The little color in his face was draining fast and when he opened his mouth it was just to let out a ragged gasp. The blonde luteniant stared dumbly for a moment before she realized her other hand was curled around something. She looked down and a shocked gasp escaped her.

Matsumoto's hand was clenched tightly around the hilt of her sword which was driven into Hitsugaya's stomach. Imediately Matsumoto let go of the blade as though it had burned her. The slight movement made Hitsugaya gasp and his fists clench.

"Oh my god" Matsumoto gasped. _I stabbed my captain! I stabbed my friend!_

Thoughts raced through Matsumoto's mind like a million buzzing bees. All she could do was stare at the patch of scarlet spreading steadily over her captain's stomach, staining his robes. His breathing was ragged and his eyes were closed. Matsumoto snapped out of her confused thoughts when something touched her hand. She looked down. It was Hitsugaya's hand, bloodstained. His hand laid on top of hers, as cold as the ice he controlled. Matsumoto put her other hand on top of his, unable to do anything else other then hold his hand tightly.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered, her cheeks wet with tears she hadn't realized she was crying.

Small diamond-like droplets of water dropped onto Hitsugaya. The young captain gave no response.

The sound of running feet made Matsumoto look up. It was the 4th squad. "Thank god" Matsumoto said quietly.

Hitsugaya's PV:

Hitsugaya felt like he was floating, staring up into nothing and laying on nothing. The world around him was dark and shadowy yet calm and quiet. Until a voice broke through the neverending quiet.

"_Please wake up"_ whispered a voice he thought he knew but couldn't place. _"Please, wake up, I won't be able to forgive myself if you don't."_

Matsumoto's PV:

The young lutenint sat at the bedside of her wounded captain for heaven knew how long. Her eyes never left his face, her hand holding onto his tightly. She spoke quietly, occasionally stroking his snowy hair or caressing his face. No one had ever seen the bold, outgoing woman so down and quiet. Though his life was no longer in danger, Matsumoto refused to leave Hitsgaya's bedside, even if it meant there would be a mountain of paperwork when he woke up. She knew he'd probably scold her for that but she would wait until she heard the words in his voice rather then that of another captain or squad member.

"Please wake up" Matsumoto murmured. "Please, wake up, I won't be able to forgive myself if you don't" Matsumoto said quietly, tightening her grip on his smaller hand for a moment.

The strawberry blonde was surprised at how well their hands fit together, perfectly. His skin was cool and smooth under her touch, like she had always thought it would be. Her sword and his, rested against the wall, nearly forgotten. Matsumoto couldn't bring herself to pick up her sword, the sword that had nearly taken her precious captain's life. She couldn't even look at Hitsugaya's sword. Though she couldn't communicate with it, she knew the sword would probably remember her injuring its holder.

Matsumoto was about to fall asleep in one of the uncomfortable squad 4 chairs when Hitsugaya's hand twitched. Dark blue eyes snapped open in an instant and locked on the face of the young captain. His face was starting to change, twisting into a look of pain and then confusion and then pain again. Matsumoto stroked his face with her hand, warm against his cool, pale skin. It felt nice to be able to actually _touch_ her captain. Though she'd known him for years, Matsumoto had never laid a hand on Hitsgaya. If the surroundings had been different, Matsumoto was sure she would have enjoyed it.

"Come on captain, wake up" Matsumoto said softly.

"I'm awake" said a soft voice, spoken from a normally commanding person.

Hitsugaya:

The white-haired captain's icy-green eyes opened to see Matsumoto looming over him, tears making her blue eyes shine. Hitsugaya raised a hand and brushed the tears away from her cheeks with a soft smile that shifted quickly into a wince that he tried to hide.

"Your awake at last" Matsumoto said.

"Yeah" Hitsugaya said quietly, his voice a bit raspy as he tried to sit up.

Matsumoto let out a strangled cry of delight and flung her arms around her captain, half laying on him and crying into his neck. Hitsugaya was frozen for a moment, half in shock and half in pain from the sudden jarring of his wound. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her, patting her back and trying to soothe her.

"It's okay, I'm alive" Hitsugaya said.

"I know" Matsumoto said, her breath tickling his neck. "And I'm glad. I'm so sorry, I can't believe I did this to you!"

"It wasn't your fault and don't think for a moment it was. You weren't in control" Hitsugaya said firmly.

"I know but I could have fought harder, tried something, I shouldn't have done…this!"

The young captain stared at his crying luitenant as she sat back, still crying silently. Hitsugaya took her hand squeezed it. "I did this to myself Matsumoto, not you. I let myself be stabbed because I knew it would accomplish what the hollow wanted. It let you go, that's what I wanted."

"But you shouldn't have done it!" Matsumoto exclaimed, half crying, half angry. "I could have _killed_ you!"

"I don't die that easily" Hitsuyaga said, leaving out the fact that he'd been hanging between life and death for some time. "Besides, I knew you'd call me back."

"Yeah because you're not getting out of all of that paperwork" Matsumoto said sheepishly.

Hitsugaya's eyes nearly fell out of his head. "How long has it been?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"About a week."

The captain nearly passed out again. "How long have you been sitting here?"

"About a week."

Hitsugaya fell backwards onto his pillows. He had fainted.


End file.
